The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos, is a geographical, geological, and cultural region located in northeasternPennsylvania, United States. The Poconos are an upland of the larger Allegheny Plateau. Forming a 2,400 square miles (6,200 km2) escarpment overlooking the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, the mountains are bordered on the north by Lake Wallenpaupack, on the west by the Wyoming Valley and the Coal Region, and to the south by the Lehigh Valley. It comes from the Minsi or Munsee Indian word Pokawachne (pronounced Poke Ah Waak-nay), which means "Creek Between Two Hills."[1] Much of the Poconos region lies within the Greater New York-Newark, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The wooded hills and valleys have long been a popular recreation area, accessible within a two-hour drive to millions of metropolitan area residents, with many communities having resort hotels with fishing, hunting, skiing, and other sports facilities.

The Pocono Mountains are a popular recreational destination for local and regional visitors. While the area has long been a popular tourist destination, many communities have seen a rise in population, especially in Coolbaugh Township and other communities within Monroe County. The region has a population of about 340,300, which is growing at a rapid pace, largely attributable to vacationers from New York and New Jersey turning vacation homes into permanent residences.[2] The region lacks a major population center, although there are municipalities such as Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono, and the townships around them which are all in Monroe County where the population is 165,058, which is about half of the total population in the Poconos.

New Jersey Transit is rebuilding trackage on the Lackawanna Cut-Off route from Scranton, through the Poconos, to Hoboken, New Jersey. There is no clear estimated target year when the Lackawanna Cut-Off service will be in operation. The service would consist of nine trains per day in each direction. Until 1970 the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad operated long distance trains through the Poconos to Buffalo and Chicago to the west, and Hoboken to the east.

The Poconos is a well-known outdoor recreation destination for visitors around the northeast, especially from New York City and Philadelphia. The region encompasses the Delaware State Forest, including six designated natural areas, seven state parks, and seventeen state game lands.[6] The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is on the eastern edge of the Poconos and includes 70,000 acres of wilderness.[7]

Two of the earliest resorts in the Poconos were opened by Philadelphia Quakers: Inn at Buck Hill Falls (1901) and Pocono Manor (1902).[8][9] Buck Hill's stone facade became a model for close to 300 stately stone-and-shingle homes in the region.[10] Buck Hill closed in 1990 while the Inn at Pocono Manor is considered the oldest continuously operating resort in the Poconos.[9][10]

Buckwood Inn opened in 1911 as one of the first golfing resorts, a Spanish colonial revival building with white-Moorish architecture and Spanish tiled roofs.[10] Bandleader Fred Waring purchased the resort in 1943, renamed it the Shawnee Inn, and broadcast his radio shows from there.[11] In 1994 Fodor's identified the Shawnee Inn as the only resort on the banks of the Delaware River.[12] Skytop Lodge, built in 1928, is described as a "Dutch Colonial-style manor house." The resort encompasses 5,500 acres with 30 miles of hiking trails.[13] Novelist Faith Baldwin wrote about her 1932 visit to Skytop, "Here are friendly mountains, round-breasted, smiling in the clear, rosy light of dawn."[14]

Tamiment was a popular resort among Jewish singles from the working and emerging middle class[15] and had been described as "a progressive version of the Catskills..."[16] The 2,200 acre facility opened in 1921 to generate income for the Rand School of Social Science, a Socialist school in New York.[15][17][18] Tamiment Playhouse entertained resort guests with an original revue every Saturday night during the 10-week summer season, and many prominent Broadway and TV figures gained experience there.[19] The playhouse was referred to as the "Poconos boot camp for Broadway writers and performers."[20] The revues were discontinued in 1960 and the resort closed down in 2005.[18][21]

Unity House, a 655-acre Pocono retreat, offered affordable vacations for factory workers. The resort was owned for seventy years by the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, and it served as a staging ground for union activities.[22][23] Ron Devlin of the The Morning Call referred to Unity House as a "blue-collar 'Hilton.'"[22]Eleanor Roosevelt visited Unity House many times and wrote, "...you could not put children in a more favorable environment..."[24] The resort closed down in 1990, falling victim to changing times and declining union membership.[22][23]

In 1945 Rudolf Von Hoevenberg established the first honeymoon resort in the Poconos, Farm on the Hill. By 1960, the Poconos rivaled Niagara Falls as a honeymoon destination, attracting 100,000 couples a year.[25]Morris Wilkins, co-owner of Cove Haven, invented the heart-shaped bathtub in 1963 as a way to lure honeymoon customers.[26][27][28] The tub would appear in other couples resorts and became a symbol of the Pocono resort business.[26][29][30] Author Lawrence Squeri wrote in 2002, "If Americans today are asked to name the image that best represents the Poconos, chances are that many will cite couples resorts and heart-shaped bathtubs..."[26]

In the 1950s the Kiesendahl family purchased a 12-bedroom boarding house along Lake Teedyuskung. It became the Woodloch Resort and, as of 2014, it encompassed 1,000 acres and accommodated 900 guests in a variety of lodgings. Travel + Leisure identified the Lodge at Woodloch (founded 2006) as the number 3 destination spa in the world.[7]

As of June 2015, there were four Pocono resorts with indoor water parks: Great Wolf Lodge, Split Rock Resort, Camelback Resort, and Kalahari Resort.[31] In 2014 Jayne Clark of USA Today wrote, "The former Honeymoon Capital of the World, the Poconos -- rebranded in 2007 as the Pocono Mountains -- continues to fine-tune its image as a family-friendly outdoor adventureland, health spa getaway and emerging waterpark capital."[7]

In November 2006 the Pocono Downs harness-racing complex opened the first slot-machine parlor in the state of Pennsylvania. It was owned by the Mohegan Indian Tribe of Connecticut and included two gambling floors with nearly 1,100 machines.[32] The Mount Airy Casino Resort opened in October 2007 with about 2,500 slot machines. The owner, Louis DeNaples, was later charged with perjury due to suspected ties with organized crime figures. He turned the resort over to his daughter and avoided prosecution.[33]

Pocono Raceway, a major automobile racetrack, is home to an IndyCar race, the ABC Supply 500 in August, and two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, the Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400[35] in early June, and the Pennsylvania 400 in late July or early August. It also serves as a racing school and motorcycle track. The two dates in Pocono are vital to the region for the tourism money it brings to the local economy. As of 2010[update] the Mattioli family, owners of Pocono Raceway, allows sponsors on the names of the races, which before then were called just The Pocono 500 and The Pennsylvania 500. Pocono Raceway is the closest track to Philadelphia and the major metropolitan areas of New York and New Jersey.

Skiing was a $230 million a year industry in the Poconos and in 1987 accounted for one quarter of the region's tourist business. Pennsylvania native John Guresh, an employee at Big Boulder Ski Resort, is credited for bringing the ski industry to the Poconos.[36][37][38] In the winter of 1956-57 he invented a machine "resembling a lawn sprinkler atop a sled" to generate artificial snow. Joyce Gemperlein of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Until Guresh perfected snowmaking at Big Boulder, skiing in the Poconos was a relatively minor sport." Ski resorts in the region could not rely on natural snow and, according to Big Boulder manager Ken Knize, there were times when conditions were right for skiing only two weeks a year. Cal Conniff, president of the National Ski Areas Association, regarded Guresh as "one of the pioneers" of the U. S. ski industry.[36]

Jack Frost Mountain and Big Boulder[43] — Both resorts are owned by the same parent company. Jack Frost caters to more traditional family skiing, while Big Boulder is largely focused on terrain park skiing and snowboarding.

The Pocono Record is the newspaper for the Poconos. Its coverage area centers on Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg and covers parts of Monroe, Pike, Lackawanna, Wayne and Carbon counties as well as areas of western New Jersey.

The Times News, of Lehighton, covers Carbon, Schuylkill, and Monroe counties, and also portions of northern Lehigh and Northampton counties.

WESS at (90.3 FM) broadcasts from the Borough of East Stroudsburg as a service of East Stroudsburg University. Students and Faculty of the University provide programing often, and the station rebroadcasts BBC world service when live DJs are not available.

WSBG (93.5 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. Licensed to Stroudsburg, the station serves the Pocono area with the slogan "The Poconos' Best Variety."